Written & performed by Denmo Ibrahim
Directed by Sara Razavi
Dramaturgy by Jayne Wenger
World Premiere!
In this new comedy from celebrated physical performer Denmo Ibrahim, freedom and family collide when an Egyptian immigrant’s search for the American dream leads his American-born daughter on a quest for home.
Production: Joseph Amic-Angelo, Ann Brebner, Logan Ellis, Jeanette Harrison, Norman Kern, Janice Koprowski, Christine Plowright
Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts
April 4th to April 27th
BABA
Cast & Crew
Denmo Ibrahim
holds an MFA in Actor-Created Physical Theatre from Naropa University and a BFA in Acting from Boston University. She has performed for A.C.T, Aurora Theatre, Huntington Theatre, and the Vineyard Playhouse to name a few. Denmo has been nominated for an Irene Ryan Acting Award and a Joseph Jefferson Award for “Best Actress in a Lead Role”. As a playwright, she was the winner of the 2011 Highlight Series produced by Noor Theatre and New York Theatre Workshop and was selected as an Honoree for the Middle East Initiative Award. She is a founding Artistic Director of Mugwumpin, an award-winning performance group based in San Francisco. To date, Denmo has co-created seven ensemble based performances and written two full-length plays. Her plays include ECSTASY I a water fable -- a two-year Theatre Bay Area commission produced by Golden Thread and BABA, a riveting solo performance exploring Middle Eastern identity that toured throughout the U.S to sold-out houses. Denmo is the founder and CEO of Earthbody, an organic day spa for healing -- voted Best Day Spa by SF Weekly and CitySearch. She also formulates an organic bodycare line inspired by the principles of Ayurveda. In addition to running a successful business, Denmo is an educator, therapist, writer and Holistic Coach. She is personally committed to acts of love, the power of art, and the wisdom of transformation.
Sara Razavi
graduated from UC Davis with a degree in sociology and theatre studies. In addition to her training at Davis, her theatre training involves a year-long theatre focus at University of Birmingham, in England. She was one of the founding members of elastic future an experimental multi-disciplinary arts group working in theatre, film / video, and other live performance, with whom she has collaborated on several ensemble generated works. She is regular performer and active Board Member of Golden Thread Production, a theatre company focused on exploring Middle Eastern cultures and identities. Razavi focuses on supporting actors develop their one-person productions. Recently, she has directed Maryam Rostami’s one-woman show, Persepolis, Texas for CounterPULSE Theatre’s Summer Special Program, and Denmo Ibrahim’s BABA for Minneapolis Fringe Festival. Razavi has also been involved with other Bay Area theatre companies including Shotgun Players, TheatreFIRST, Darvag, and New Conservatory Theatre Company. Razavi lives in San Francisco, where in addition to her theatre work, she recently completed her MBA, and works at Working Solutions, a microlender which provides capital and support to small business owners.
Jayne Wenger
is a director and dramaturg whose exclusive focus is on original material. She is the past Artistic Director of the Bay Area Playwrights Foundation and was the Artistic Director of Women’s Ensemble in New York. She has developed the emerging work of acclaimed playwrights throughout the country including David Adjmi, Kate Bornstein, Clarence Coo, Chris Chen, Nilo Cruz, Sara Felder (JuneBride and Shtick! both touring shows), Dan Hoyle, Holly Hughes, Naomi Iizuka, Sherry Kramer, Schatzie Schaefers and Liebe Wetzel’s Lunatique Fantastique and Lauren Yee. She works with playwrights individually on the development of new works and leads workshops across the country. She has collaborated with Claire Chafee on numerous projects, including the original direction of the world premiere of Why We Have a Body at the Magic Theatre. Current work: Dramaturgy for Marga Gomez’ Love Birds (The Marsh San Francisco and La Mama NYC), direction and dramaturgy for Come to me Leopards, (Cyrano’s Theater, Anchorage, Alaska) dramaturgy for Arlitia Jone’s Rush at Everlasting (Perseverance Theater, Juneau, Alaska) and dramaturgy for Deke Weaver’s Wolf, part of The Unreliable Bestiary Project (University of Illinois, Urbana, Champaign). Recent projects include Michelle Carter’s 20 Friends at 3 Girls, Becoming Grace by Naomi Newman for A Traveling Jewish Theater; Michelle Carter’s How To Pray for Crowded Fire; Claire Chafee’s FULL/SELF for The Playwrights Foundation; Anne Galjour’s You Can’t Get There From Here for Z Space and Dartmouth College and Men Think They Are Better Than Grass with the Deborah Slater Dance Theater. Alaskan projects include direction and dramaturgy forThe Winter Bear Project, written by Alaska Writer Laureate Anne Hanley, an on-going touring performing arts and social outreach initiative focused on teen suicide in rural Native communities. Jayne is a member of AlterTheater, The Dramatists Guild, Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, League of Professional Theater Women, and serves on the Advisory Board of Last Frontier Theatre Conference
Christine Plowright
is delighted to be back at AlterTheater, after stage managing the world premiere of Ann Brebner's The Dead Girl last year.
Norman Kern
is a multi-award winning theatre artist working in the entertainment industry for 30 years. As a sound designer, Norman has the sophisticated approach to the heart of the story and collaborates with directors, actors and the design team to create a unique storytelling experience. A multi-instrumentalist with recording engineer training by the legendary Dr. Richie Moore (Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, etc). Norman’s cinematic approach to sound design creates images, and places the audience in the center of the story. His credits include three independent feature films (starring Hill Harper, Brock Peters, etc.) and over 100 live theatre productions. Norman is very excited about returning to AlterTheater, where previous designs include Summerland, After The Fall, Sex Parasite, References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, and the world premieres of The Dead Girl and A Man, His Wife, and A Hat.
Joseph Amic-Angelo
returns to AlterTheater after lighting the world premiere of Ann Brebner's The Dead Girl. He has been a freelance lighting designer and stage manager through out the Bay Area and is currently a full-time designer for Holzmueller productions. He also works for Zellerbach Hall at UC Berkeley, where he received his BA in Theater Dance and Performance studies.
Janice Koprowski
has been active in play production for over 50 years in Michigan and California. She holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Western Michigan University, and has designed costumes, makeup, or lighting for over 200 productions. Recent productions include All My Sons and The King and I for Douglas Morrisson Theatre; The Producers and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof for PCP; Doubt, Almost Maine, and Putnam County Spelling Bee for CCT. This is her 9th production for AlterTheater, where she most recently costumed Fool for Love, and she is delighted to be back.
Jeanette Harrison
has produced 15 world premieres with AlterTheater, and spearheaded the drive to found the AlterLab playwright residency program, of which this play is the third to premiere with AlterTheater. She has worked in casting, theater education, and worked onstage, on-camera and off-camera in both the non-profit and commercial entertainment industry. She has worked with Cutting Ball (…and Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi by Marcus Gardley, winner of Best Production and Best Ensemble from the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle), Aurora Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Magic Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Theatre Rhino, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Sonoma County, Sonoma County Rep, Golden Thread Productions, Woman’s Will, Playhouse West, and Combined Art Form Entertainment (C.A.F.E.), among others. With AlterTheater she appeared onstage in After the Fall, Owners, Intimate Apparel, References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, and in the Bay Area premieres of Sex Parasite, Two Sisters and a Piano, and in the world premieres of Thirst, and A Man, his Wife, and his Hat (one of two finalists for the USA Pen Award, for best new play written west of the Mississippi).
Ann Brebner
has been an AlterLab writer since the inception of the program, and her play The Dead Girl was the first AlterLab-developed play to premiere at AlterTheater. Born and educated in New Zealand, Ann Brebner has lived in California since 1953 and has spent her life working in film or theatre. Trained as a director at London’s prestigious Old Vic Theater, she has directed for the stage in England, New Zealand, Rhode Island, New York and the Bay Area. With AlterTheater, Ann co-directed, with Frances Lee McCain, the Bay Area premiere of Sex Parasite in AlterTheater's Inaugural Season, and directed the West Coast premiere of "Cuddle Time" by Keely Madden in Smorgasbord of Shorts II, and the world premiere of Thirst by Dyke Garrison. More recently, she directed the award-winning production Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage, and Two Sisters and a Piano by Nilo Cruz.She and her writing partner Laurel Graver adapted Anne Lamott's first novel, Hard Laughter, into a play, which premiered with AlterTheater in Spring 2008.
has served as the Artistic Direction Apprentice under Loretta Greco at Magic Theatre, and currently serves as the Producing Artistic Director of Theatre Battery in Kent, WA and Associate Producer of Do It Live! Productions in San Francisco. Directing: The Firefly Project (Magic), dark play or stories for boys (Do It Live), Chatroom, Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, Dog Sees God (Theatre Battery), Fat Pig and Far Away (Ithaca College). Asst. Directing: Alleluia, the Road (Campo Santo/Cal Shakes), Arcadia (ACT), Waiting for Godot (MTC), Bruja, Any Given Day, Jesus in India (Magic). BA Drama with Directing focus from Ithaca College.
Logan Ellis
